Based on what he had heard about the strongest Confluence cultivators, Devon was able to pick out the name of the man controlling the Magnitude IV ship in front of him. “Are you Endymion?” he asked as he approached.

“That is correct,” the man answered, punctuating his words with a beam of energy that Devon narrowly avoided. “And you would be Devon Gardner. A weak name no doubt kept because of pointless nostalgia.”

Devon continued to avoid incoming attacks, all his attention focused on the enemy. Not just Endymion, of course, but the entire fleet. Devon never really thought about his surname. As a youth, it had just been another name, coming from his father. But names did tend to have meaning behind them, even if it was sometimes lost.

Devon laughed as he continued to approach the ship, at an angle away from the rest of the allied fleet stood, so that the enemy would have to completely ignore him to try to harm the fleet. There was enough space that any random shot probably wouldn’t be aimed towards ships hundreds of kilometers away, but it was better for that to be a certainty. “You think so little of gardeners? I can think of two individuals who would prove you wrong about its weakness. Though I personally care little for it myself.”

He was getting close, but it was difficult to pick out the best angle of attack. From any angle he would have to go through ten layers of modular blocks… though there were some gaps in the structure that might allow him to get closer. He was just the size of a single person, after all, and the way the segments were arranged wasn’t a perfect pattern. No doubt there was some method to the arrangement, but it left a vulnerability.

“You say that, but you have clear weaknesses.” The patterns of attack Endymion was controlling became more and more difficult to dodge as he got used to Devon’s movement patterns- though he had yet to lock his beam onto Devon for more than an instant. All that power was useless if he couldn’t hit. “Your weakness is that you care for worthless individuals… and even a specific woman. Aerona, was it? Perhaps she is in the fleet behind you.”

So that was why the enemy was suddenly talkative. Obviously they’d gotten some information from captives, though none of it was particularly secret so far.

He wanted to provoke Devon somehow, or perhaps he truly believed those to be weaknesses. But that simply showed how naive he was. Caring for others wasn’t some sort of lack of focus. And while it did provide alternate ways to attack someone, it also provided strength to protect those ‘weaknesses’. Cultivation was a mental discipline that needed purpose.

Did this man want Devon to charge recklessly forward, or to focus his attention on the fleet behind him? It was a question on Devon’s mind as he took in the exact layout of the ship in front of him. If he could figure out which the trap was, he could better seem to fall for it.

“You have no response?” Endymion continued. He sent out a pulse of energy covering a wide cone, striking Devon- but the attack was proportionately much weaker than focused shots. “You can’t even touch me.”

Was that it? Did he want to draw Devon closer for something? He wasn’t afraid of a close-up brawl. However, he also had to be cognizant of how much energy he had. The last couple of days had been quite draining.

Devon’s chains suddenly lashed out, wrapping around several segments of the ship in front of him, tearing through the barrier with some effort. Just a few out of close to a thousand. “You think I cannot harm you for fear of the lives that will be lost?”

Devon tore the segments away, uncertain of whether or not they would detonate. He had the feeling if he ripped them away from the central formations rapidly enough, they should have a chance. Adding in some momentary suppression, and the segments were torn away to drift in space.

A moment later, the ship blasted them all apart with direct attacks. “Those lives are all on your head,” Endymion taunted.

Another series of attacks began to push Devon in a particular direction, and he began to see the full plan. He let himself be slowly directed around towards the ‘rear’ of the ship, on the side of the enemy fleet.

Devon gave no response to the man’s words, because he was worried he might give away too much. Internally, he felt some pain and rage. But he also knew that those who had perished were likely still better off. Optimally they would have survived and been freed, but that wasn’t always possible. Ultimately, Devon wanted the most people to be free, healthy, and happy. He didn’t necessarily believe that sacrifices had to be made, but if people died they died. Killing this man might result in thousands dead… but there were millions at stake- just on Waral. There had to be billions throughout their various planets and systems, but they didn’t seem so numerous as to reach to the level of trillions.

Devon continued to tear off segments according to his plan, ultimately letting himself get led towards the rear of the ship. The segments were destroyed one after another by Endymion, but the inner layers were slowly becoming exposed. It would be a long task to wear down a ship of that size, but its barriers couldn’t stop Devon.

A moment after he was in position, Devon felt a pulse of energy. The entire fleet attacked at once, with Endymion’s Magnitude IV ship firing towards him as well. But Devon was already holding on to more segments of the ship to ‘tear them away’.

He swung himself forward, behind the barrier of the ship. That meant crossing a few of the attacks from Endymion, but the vast majority of the attacks could not reach him. They sadly didn’t crash into the barrier, but were meant to stop short of it. A great explosion was unleashed from where he had been a moment before, and Devon was glad that very few opponents had escaped from his battles… thus their knowledge of his battle tactics was limited.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Wow, how pathetic,” Devon taunted even as the ship tried to target him internally. “Obviously you weren’t going to keep your word, but still.”

“Did I not? You asked if I would draw upon the power of the slaves I keep, and I did.”

“That’s hardly an individual match when you call upon the entire fleet,” Devon said, diving through a segment of the ship.

Endymion was very good at not causing damage to his own ship, but that also meant he had to limit his power output. He still managed to have a constant pressure bearing down on Devon, but that would only matter for a little bit longer.

The two fleets had engaged after the initial assault, the Lower Realms Alliance moving focusing on the targets they had picked out while waiting.

“Oh, by the way,” Devon called to the rest of the enemy fleet, which had other Numerological Compact Confluence cultivators. “It would be super easy to poison this guy while he’s asleep or blast him while he’s away from his ship. So if you’d prefer to be the slavemaster, you can do it when he runs away like a coward.”

“I would never run,” Endymion said.

“Then you don’t mind if I tear apart that mobility formation there, right?”

The timing couldn’t have been better. Devon reached out for the segment of the ship, and a huge wave of energy pushed Devon out of the ship- away from either of the fleets, as he’d maneuvered himself into a more comfortable position.

Devon took a moment to orient himself, at which point the fleet was already pulling away. “So you’re going to call that a tactical retreat, right?” Devon commented, projecting his voice after them. He displayed as much strength as he could, because he didn’t actually want them to come back.

“Should we engage?” Ashildr asked over their comms.

“Let them retreat,” he replied. “Though go ahead and continue to shoot until they’re out of range.” If they didn’t have to keep as many forces local as possible, Devon might have had some of those with good range and mobility chase after the enemy- though there were some concerns about the Magnitude IV ship. Even from a distance, its beams caused significant drain to the Valor’s barriers as it was in a fighting retreat.

Devon remained in his position until the allied fleets were nearby, then he stepped onto the Valor. He kept his feelings of relief internal, glad that he still had the strength to stand, if not much else. He’d underestimated how exhausted he was, and his opponent was strong. Fortunately, he cared only about his own life- and thus was willing to run away at the first sign of a true threat.

Obviously Endymion was gathering information on Devon just as much as Devon had been doing on him, but Devon already had plans in mind to beat him. And it wouldn’t be alone if he could help it.

-----

For the moment, the Numerological Compact had conceded control over Waral, at least in practical terms. Whether that was for a day or a week was unclear, but they had a few moments to breathe. Which was good because Waral was in a seriously concerning state.

Though he’d tried to put it out of his mind during the skirmish- and that was what it was, despite the seriousness of the battle- now that they were able to return to the planet Devon was reminded of the situation.

When the majority of their forces had pulled away into space, the three latest cities they had liberated had undergone a massive event all at once. Hundreds of thousands in each city had died simultaneously… and the cause was fairly obvious.

“You need not be concerned,” Ammar was speaking to the gathered crowds of his city- and it really might be his now. Or at least controlled by his people. “We have had our revenge. Those who we attacked were slain, and all else were judged to be innocent or at least capable of redemption. And here comes the agents of balance.” Ammar inclined his head to Devon. “Welcome back.”

Devon frowned. “I thought you said you would not cause any unnecessary trouble. Then this happened,” he gestured broadly.

“I assure you,” Ammar said. “It was entirely necessary. Those who have wronged us have perished. And do not worry, we intend to bury the bodies so they do not rot.”

Devon pressed his fingers into his forehead. “We did intend to deal with them. We have laws that we would enforce…”

“What is your opinion on direct witnesses?” Ammar said. “Because we were personally aware of their crimes. And that was not reliant on the memory of any individuals. But of course, we understand if you see us as a danger. We are willing to accept the consequences. If we must die, we will accept that as long as you let the innocents live.”

“And who would that be?”

“Everyone not part of us who lives.” He looked out over the city. “Even those few of the Numerological Compact.”

Devon reached out to feel the city. Indeed, while there were far fewer of them, Numerological Compact cultivators still lived. They were shaking in fear, of course. Hiding, though not in any way that would have done them any good.

“Should we expect something like this to occur again when we free the other cities?” Devon asked.

“We are uncertain. But most likely. If we live, then it is inevitable.”

Devon sighed. “We won’t act rashly here. I’ll speak to the others. You truly intend to comply with our decision?”

“We would prefer to live. But we also recognize the power of your people. We would rather not have the city be damaged for the sake of our surviving brethren.”

What a mess. Though honestly, if they truly did exactly what they said… Devon didn’t have a problem with it. The thing that spoke the most to their honesty were the few thousand remaining Numerological Compact cultivators- mostly young and lower in cultivation.

People who knew more about these things could sort this out. If they were actual citizens of the Lower Realms Alliance things would be quite different, but this was still a war zone- which despite the circumstances made them more likely to actually get away with killing. But there would be a lot to figure out, since so far the only side of the story that had been heard was theirs.